6.18.2014

From One End to the Other

As I shared on Facebook this week, I learned last Thursday I had a small hole in the retina of my right eye. Today I had laser surgery by a very kind eye surgeon to seal the hole.

It was a procedure that gave me the willies. I mean, a blinding (literally) heated light seared eye tissue closed to create scars so the vitreous humor doesn't leak behind the retina, causing it to pull away from the wall of the eyeball. I shudder writing that. Gross.

The amazing part is that this procedure doesn't really hurt. It's uncomfortable, and warm, but not painful. My procedure lasted only five minutes. The dilation of my pupil took 20 minutes. Once I disappeared into the doctor's procedure room, my daughter had just enough time to text my husband that I had just gone back, when I appeared again. It's miraculous what a physician can do with a laser beam and a coal miner's hat.

How did I get a hole in my retina, you ask? Apparently I have thin retinas, a condition called lattice degeneration. It sounded pretty with the lattice part, then I heard the degeneration part and thought, of course, another aging issue. As I wrote on Facebook, at least I have one body part that is THIN.

I'll just have to give up those weekend boxing matches.

In other news this week, I heard from the editor who had requested to see my manuscript, The 12 Days of Christmas Adventure. After having it for six weeks, she decided it was not for her publishing house at this time. To my surprise, that email of rejection was not too painful. It was disappointing, but not excruciating. It was kind of like eye surgery - uncomfortable, but not unbearable.

I don't know what I'll do next. I might blog the book here. Part of me finds this very appealing. Part of me thinks I'm tired because a laser burned my eye this morning.

I'll think about it tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day. Another uncomfortable day, because I can't eat anything but Jello and Popsicles. I'm having a colonoscopy on Friday (it's been such a fun week.) Tomorrow night, the real fun begins because I get to drink that tasty fluid that precedes hours in the bathroom.

I'm so grateful there are doctors who like to poke around eyeballs and colons. You could not pay me enough to do either one.

Ouch! I don't like the thought of womeone messing with my eyes, but then vision is more important right? Glad it wasn't too bad, and now you can heal. I had a colonoscopy last year. It wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. Hope yours goes well!

Reading that makes me feel woozy.Once an eye dr. suggested eye surgery for me and I thought I was going to faint. But, my eyes don't focus together and one or the other turns in so that is basically cosmetic.That's a lot of medical stuff for one week. Hope the colon is clear.

Oh, Scarlett! Yes, tomorrow is another day. ;)You are really going through everything at once. That is not the body part you want to be thin. I hope you porcelain throne time wasn't too bad and all goes well with that, too. Goodness!

I had similar surgery for a thinning retina when I was in my twenties, then I poked myself with a mascara brush a few years later and poked a hole in my retina so we did it again. Everything OK now and has been stable for year. My husband actually was diagnosed with small hole in his retina about a year and a half ago so he then had to have the procedure. So glad everything came out OK for you. Sorry to hear about the "rejection" of you manuscript. Been there, done that. Keep sending it off - don't give up on your dream!

Geez. I hope things settle down for you soon. At least you still have your sense of humor:)

P.S. I have a friend who went the self-publishing route. She's doing amazing & just got a book deal, too. You never know what God has in store for us. Feel free to check her out at www.sharoncooper.net.